Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Partylist Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan has called for an end to forced and fixed child marriages that remain a practice in the Philippines, more particularly in areas in Mindanao.
Sangcopan aired the appeal as she reiterated the call for the swift passage of legislation to address the growing number of child marriages and early pregnancy in the Philippines.
The lady lawmaker made these calls when she addressed the August 17 meeting of the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) Africa and Asian Parliamentarians Meeting held in Uganda, Africa.
There are currently legislative measures awaiting approval in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Early this month, the Lower House Committee on Women and Gender Equality approved House Bill 9943 providing
Sangcopan backed the legislative proposal which consolidated bills filed by Reps. Alfred Vargas (5th District, Quezon City) Edcel Lagman (21st District, Albay and Myra Joy Tambunting (2nd District, Parañaque City).
According to her, the country must make an immediate and decisive action to protect girls from forced child marriage and early pregnancies.Sangcopan said that the issue of adolescent pregnancy and child marriage are very much connected.
“Forced child marriages are considered harmful practices because child brides are often denied of their basic human rights to health, education and protection. Physically and emotionally, child brides are not ready to assume the roles of wives and mothers. They are also at risks of dying from early pregnancy and childbirth complications. They are also the ones who experience domestic violence and poverty,” said the solon.
She added that early child marriage also affects their adolescent reproductive health or sexual and reproductive health and rights thus exposing to varying degrees of risks and violence.
“What is more alarming is the fact that girls in the Philippines aged 10 to 14 are already giving birth at a frequency of at least once every week since 2011 according to the Commission on Population and Development or PopCom.” Births among girls aged 10-14 years old have gone up by 7% compared to 2018 with a total of 2,411. This means there at least seven very young adolescents girls have gave birth per day in 2019.
Data from PopCom also reveals that the number of young adolescents who give birth has increased three-folds in the two decades, from 755 in 2000 to 2,411 in 2019.
“Because the body of a girl is underdeveloped and still not prepared for child-bearing and the changes that it brings to the life of a girls, child brides suffer from various health risks such anemia, STIs, postpartum hemorrhage, abortion, and poor mental health,” stressed Sangcopan.
According to World Health Organization, maternal conditions caused by early pregnancies ranked first as the leading cause of mortality among young women and girls aged 15-19 year. While pregnancy and child-birth related complications among 15-24 y/o mothers account for 22% of all maternal deaths in the country according to Philippine Statistics Authority.